The chief executive officer of the French energy giant Total has criticized sanctions against Iran, saying it was a “serious mistake” to mix political and civilian issues.
Speaking at an economic forum in Aix-en-Provence in southern France on Friday, Christophe de Margerie confirmed Total had suspended its deliveries to Iran in line with sanctions adopted by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the US and European Union aimed at curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
"I maintain this is a mistake. The embargo affects the population, too many things are politicized these days," AFP quoted him as saying.
"We do not think an embargo on the delivery of petrol products is a good way to settle differences of a political nature," he stressed.
The CEO further stated that Total would resume deliveries to Iran at the first opportunity, adding that it was a "serious mistake to mix things that are civil and political".
On June 9 the Security Council voted for a US-proposed resolution for a fourth round of sanctions against Iran.
US President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law new unilateral US sanctions on Iran, which he claimed would strike at Tehran's capacity to finance its nuclear program.
"With these sanctions -- along with others -- we are striking at the heart of the Iranian government's ability to fund and develop its nuclear programs," AFP quoted Obama as saying at a White House ceremony, before signing the sanctions into law.
"We are showing the Iranian government that its actions have consequences, and if it persists, the pressure will continue to mount, and its isolation will continue to deepen.
The US Senate and House of Representatives approved the legislation -- which backers described as the toughest ever unilateral US sanctions against the Islamic Republic -- by crushing 99-0 and 408-8 margins last week.
The measures aim to choke off Iran's access to imports of refined petroleum products like gasoline and jet fuel and curb its access to the international banking system.
The new US sanctions are designed to force foreign firms to choose whether to do business with Iran or the United States.
The sanctions come despite Tehran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran has denied western claims that it is pursuing a secret military nuclear program saying its atomic activities are peaceful and in line with its rights under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Not Going to Work
Meanwhile, a senior EU official, speaking on the condition of anonymity after talks among major world powers, told Reuters on Friday that the new sanctions regime on Iran was not going to work on its own to stop Iran's nuclear enrichment program.
"We don't believe that sanctions are going to solve the problem on their own, but equally we don't think that just doing nothing is going to solve the problem either," he stressed.
The official added "Sanctions are not an end in themselves. As far as we were concerned the motive for sanctions was because we had run out of other options, because the Iranians were no longer talking to us."
The objective now was to resume talking to Iran as soon as possible, he asserted.
"Our whole objective has been eventually to talk to Iran ... What we want is a negotiated settlement and you don't get that without talking to people.”

Sorena 2 Unveiled

Ahmadinejad Forecasts Industrial Exports at $60b

On the occasion marking Industry and Mines Day, the humanoid ‘Sorena 2’ Robot, which was designed by engineers at University of Tehran, was unveiled on Saturday in the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The robot can be used for handling sensitive tasks without the need for cooperating with human beings. It can adjust its walking up to12 degrees while its hands have a maneuverability of eight degrees and head two degrees.
Among the features of the robot is taking slow steps similar to human beings, harmonious movements of hands and feet and other movements similar to humans, IRNA reported.
‘Sorena 1’Robot was designed and built in 2008 when the project was launched. The robot can move along the predetermined path with DC motors and path finding system. It can also be activated manually by an operator. Sorena 1 also can speak predetermined texts.
Ahmadinejad said Saturday within the next three years the volume of industrial exports of the country will reach 60 billion dollars from the present $18 billion. Addressing the meeting on the annual occasion, he referred to the 21 billion dollar contract concluded with local companies for developing six phases of the major South Pars gas project and said in the near future an oil contract will also be signed with domestic firms, Mehr News Agency reported.
He said the Central Bank of Iran is offering $12 billion for promoting development in the industrial and mine sector this year.
The president lauded the efforts of those involved in the industrial sector and said despite the problems and hurdles, the country has “moved ahead very well and this success is a source of pride and glory for the nation”, IRNA reported.

A fuel truck exploded and set fire to a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 221 people and injuring almost an equal number, the Red Cross said Saturday.
Flames engulfed dozens of earth and straw constructed homes after villagers, many of them children, crowded around the tanker which overturned late on Friday.
Helicopters provided by the United Nations mission in the country evacuated injured villagers to hospital, officials said.
Desire Kama from the Congolese Red Cross said according to a provisional estimate at 1100 GMT, there were 221 deaths -- of whom 61 were children and 36 women -- and 214 were injured.
A UN mission source told AFP on condition of anonymity that five Pakistani troops were among the dead, but this was denied by MONUSCO's spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai, who said no UN soldiers were among the victims.
A military source in MONUSCO's command said he had no reports of any victims from the peacekeeping mission and said verification was going on with units present in the zone.
Earlier a MONUSCO source gave a toll of "223 dead and 110 injured."
"What is certain is that the toll will get higher. It seems that what happened was truly horrible," the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that the search was still going on "for more charred bodies."

Turkey’s Talent

By Mohiaddin Sajedi
The EU has taken another step toward facilitating Turkey’s entry into the club. Last week it started talks pertaining to issues incorporating that country’s food security and veterinary and herbal medicine. Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu visited Brussels to discuss Chapter 13 of the 35 chapters dealing with the long-delayed accession. Accession talks started in Oct. 2005, but so far talks on only one chapter have been finalized.
The EU has officially declared that the Cyprus problem is the main barrier to Turkey’s entry. But some European officials have expressed concern about an Islamic country with a big population and ancient civilization joining the western club.
It is amply clear that tensions in Turkish-Israel ties overshadowed the Brussels agenda. The foreign minister of Spain, which is the rotating chairman of the EU, supported Turkey’s stance vis-à-vis the brutal Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound mercy mission. Miguel Moratinos added that the EU and other international parties are trying to convince Israel to end the illegal siege of Gaza.
Davutoglu said limiting crises to the tensions between Ankara and Tel Aviv would be rather naïve as the six ships also carried parliamentarians and prominent human rights activists from 32 European states. He was adamant that the crises now relates to Israel and the comity of nations.
On the sidelines of the meeting in Brussels, Davutoglu secretly met Israeli industry Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. The news of the meeting was carried both in the Turkish and Israeli press, and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman openly complained that he was not informed about the meeting.
Turkish sources said in the meeting Davutoglu reiterated Ankara’s stance that Israel make an apology for attacking the Mavi Marmara and killing nine Turkish nationals, and also end the illegal blockade of Gaza so that bilateral ties could move back on track.
It is obvious that Israel will not meet most of Turkey’s demands. But, does an apology or easing the siege help restore normalize relations? Nevertheless, that was the first meeting between the two ministers after the latest Israeli lawlessness in international waters.

Russia’s refusal to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran means Tehran could turn to China as its main arms supplier, depriving Moscow of a serious source of revenue, a Russian daily suggested.